To ensure their future food security, rich countries are buying up land in poor countries. Ah, that’s China, you may think! But as authorStefano Liberti explains, China is a minor player in this land grab – the truth is much more complex. Our pension funds, European corporations, and countries like Saudi Arabia are all getting in on the act. The food crisis of 2007/8, resulting from poor harvests and propelled by the movement of capital into corn, soya beans, rice and wheat, was the tipping point. Since then, the race to acquire land in the southern hemisphere has become ever more intense. Stefano calls it the new colonialism. But it is not without contradictions. Many African countries are very keen to get this investment and send trade missions to rich countries to ‘sell’ their land.